Dear Mr. Sondheim

Originally posted April 20, 2003:

Dear Mr. Sondheim,

I know you would probably scoff at this because you tend to scoff at such things, like when you said Oscar always believed there really was 'a bright golden haze on the meadow,' but you never did. But even though I had the chance to tell you in person and I chickened out, I just have to say here and get it out: you change me. Your music changes me. It stirs me and challenges me and makes me want to live to be a part of something as brilliant and powerful and true as the things you write. Your lyrics change me on a daily basis. I have clung to the truth behind them ever since I first discovered you back in junior high school. I have been your fan for so long that I tend to take for granted how much I love you, and start to wonder if maybe the fannishness has tarnished the value of it a little, or if maybe I've lost my vibe. But then I see a performance and I'm filled with so much renewal of passion and conviction and a wish to just grab everybody around me and scream 'don't you see how wonderful, how brilliant, this is?'

Nobody